Quartet: Intermezzo
by Orange Blossom Nin
Summary: Remus has some spare time and in such his mind seems to wander. About secrets, friends and his own arrogance. [A little OOC]


Title: Quartet Intermezzo

Author: Orange Spice Nin

Pairings: None... O.o wow... never thought I would say that

Warnings: ...ummm... I really really like Remus and his relationship with Sirius... it shows. Also this is just screaming for three other companion pieces... or at least one from Sirius.

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: If I had written HP it wouldn't be HP it would be all about the Marauders... so it's a safe guess to assume I did not write it and therefore I do not own it

Author's Note: Gah... Got inspired in the middle of the night... you can tell. It follows my newest style, so be warned. Also a note on Remus's first halloween, it is stated that he was born March 10 1959 or 60, I checked the moon phases for the Halloween's 6 years from each date, judging that as a good age his mother would allow him out, and 1966 was the only year that had a full moon Halloween. So for the sake of argument we will say that he was born in 1960. Also this is written from the point of view of a 16-year-old Remus, a year after the rest of the Marauders had become animagus.

Inspiration: 'Underground' by Ben Folds Five, it fits Remus extremely well... at least with my view of him... Paranoia Agent... Mind trip I tell ya... One line from the Princess Bride, "You can't trust people in masks." Also bits and pieces of Artemis Fowl, mostly from the 'Eternity Code'. No I don't know were my mind gets it either.

Dedication: To Kali, my mei-mei and my own Black. If I didn't have you, whom would I obsess over with LOTR? Nero Wolfe? Who would be my other Steward of the Bed? Who else would write essays on Buffy for me:Grin:

* * *

_Quartet: Quartet", Quartette Quartette", n. It. quartetto,_

_dim. of quarto the fourth, a fourth part, fr. L. quartus the_

_fourth. See Quart._

_1. (Mus.)_

_(a) A composition in four parts, each performed by a_

_single voice or instrument._

_(b) The set of four person who perform a piece of music in_

_four parts._

_1913 Webster_

_Intermezzo: Intermez"zo, n. It. See Intermede. (Mus.)_

_An interlude; an intermede. See Intermede._

_1913 Webster_

Describe me, in five words.

I bet I can guess what came to mind, quiet, intelligent, loyal, sensitive and perhaps even self-effacing... or words to that effect or that nature. It's funny how easy it is to fool a person. Human beings are the most complex beings on the planet, the way we work, the way we function, the sheer magnitude of things that happen, all within an instant, to simply clench a hand. It's something that neither magic nor technology can even come close to replicating.

And yet, our minds, easily the most intricate thing we are in possession of, will accept things at face value and would easily do so for the rest of our natural lives. It truly does boggle the mind, pun not intended. So I have an exercise for you, the non-existent audience within my head that is, for half an hour I give you the task of figuring out why it is I belive I have fooled the rest of the world so easily. I, Remus John Lupin, shall tell you the story of my life and times, though for the sake of the before stated time limit shall keep it to the more important events, and your task is to figure out what on earth I could be hiding.

Are you ready? Good, let us begin.

I will not begin with the statement, I was born, it's obvious enough that I was born and as a baby I was considered more than a little boring, so I will skip ahead six years to the first, and incidentally last, year that I was allowed to go out trick or treating. My mother was a muggle and my parents had divorced the year before, so although I had not grown up within a muggle environment for the first part of that life, I was still young enough to appreciate the significance of that time. Also my father had promised to come and take me, even if he did believe it was a load of rubbish.

So there I was, a small little boy, out way past his bedtime, desperately afraid of the dark but clinging bravely to his father's hand. And then it happened. A snarl in the dark, a mangy shape moving towards us faster than any normal animal, a shout, a scream, and than a feeling of fire racing into and through my body.

When I awoke the next day, my shoulder aching like it had been slammed into concrete many times over, the house was eerily silent, except for the sounds of my mother sobbing in the next room. My father was dead, I was a werewolf, and my mother, I don't believe she ever stopped crying.

Sometimes, when it's to close to the full moon to get a proper nights sleep and my reasoning is a bit less rational than normal, I hate my parents. I hate my father for being one of the chief advocates of werewolf registration; I hate my mother for divorcing him and moving us to that neighborhood were Fenrir could easily find us. I hate my father for dying and I hate my mother for, emotionally, dying with him. But then someone in the room sighs or moves haphazardly in their sleep and the moment is easily broken and I leave those thoughts to the wolf.

But back to my life, after the wolf bite and until my invitation to attend Hogwarts nothing much happened, except the development of a life long fear of small, enclosed places and the realization I'm probably always going to be afraid of the dark, but that's for a different time and place. But all that you need to know is that come eleven I was a painfully shy, internal child who would barely speak more than two words, when prompted and for all intents and purposes, I intended to stay that way.

Of course I didn't count on the messy, insane, incoherent and utterly charming torrent of words and ideas that was Sirius Black. I had seen him first when staring out the window of the Hogwarts express, my mother had dropped me off and since we weren't exactly close at the time, a few words were exchanged and she was gone. Leaving me in a swarm of laughing, crying, worried, delighted and generally barely contained madness that is Platform Nine and Three quarters ten minutes before eleven A.M. So I did the only thing that I would and could do at that time, I hide, got on the train, found an empty compartment and, essentially, closed myself off from all of the confusion. But just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean I wasn't curious about it. I picked a seat close to the window and with slight hesitation I looked out.

A family of good looking, dark haired people had gathered outside of my window, in the middle of it stood a boy about my age, though bigger in stature and possessing much more charm than I ever would. But what made me curious about him, what made me watch him, was with all the attention, obvious flattery and presents being stuffed into his bag he seemed utterly bored with it all.

As eleven o'clock came a woman, presumably his mother, due to the striking resemblance, leaned over and stiffly kissed him on the cheek. His eyes dulled slightly and they roamed before settling on my window and then he did the most curious thing, he winked. I think that was the moment I knew, not consciously but still there, that we would be best friends

The train whistle blew, startling me, and by the time I looked back out the window, the boy was gone. I sat back in my seat with a certain air of disappointment, though why, at the time, I had no idea of. But just as the train was starting, the door to my compartment slid open and there he stood, his hair having gone from slicked back to a wild mess in a matter of moments, but still him.

"Hi!"

He said and then gave me a wide grin, sat down next to me, preceded to rummage through his bag and then pull out a small bag. "My uncle gave me some Chocolate Frogs, want some?"

It took me a moment to process what exactly had happened, to get it through my mind that someone had willingly come up to me and offered, to an eleven year olds mind, the equivalent to his greatest treasure at the time. "Sure."

And that's how it started, Sirius introduced me to James and then somewhere along the line we picked up Peter and we were basically inseparable. But put Sirius and James together for any number of time and there was bound to be some sort of foolishness, fourth year though, they did cross the line.

"What were you thinking!"

The hangdog eyes, the guilty expression, the nervous shuffling of hands, all used before to make me cave. The only thing that they were doing then was make me even angrier, a feat that only he seemed capable of.

"I don't think, you know that Moony."

"Don't give me that! You knew that Snape could have been killed! But you just had to taunt him didn't you?"

"But Moony-"

"I said don't give me that! I've already seen one person die by a werewolf because of me. I don't want to see another!"

Suddenly he was there, in my space, arms around my shoulders, grey eyes a mere inch from my own.

"Never, you will never have to kill, because of me or for me. I'm sorry Remy, it was idiotic of me, I lost my temper and I shouldn't have. It will never happen again."

And I forgave him, because I knew that it wouldn't, not that they wouldn't stop teasing or playing pranks but that it would never go to that level again. It's funny, James always says that I am the conscious of the group that I am the voice in their heads, with the disapproving looks, enough to make them hesitate and think for a moment. I wonder if our roles in our group formed what animals they eventually managed to turn into, James is always the protector, Peter the informant and lookout, and Sirius, well he is the comfort.

"REMY!"

The shout caught me at such a moment that it was enough to scramble, in near terror, to the door, half afraid that someone had been grievously injured. Instead I got knocked onto my back as the door was pushed open and slammed right into my face.

"Remy!"

Immediately the owner of the voice was by my side staring at me intently to assess the damage he may have caused. With a sigh I opened my eyes and almost broke out laughing at the look of intense worry in his eyes.

"You are so lucky I didn't have my glasses on." I said letting him help me up. "Now what was so important that you had to nearly kill me in the process of finding me?"

Sirius grinned, one those grins that could make any woman swoon at the spot, and then suddenly in his place was a dog. A gorgeous black mutt, with fur that shown like silk and who took my moment of complete astonishment to knock me back to the floor and furiously lick my face, his tail going furiously.

He never was good at breaking news gently.

Well, in essence, those are the main events that were my secret came up perfectly. Now I wonder if you could have guessed it, what on I could have buried so deeply that would only threaten to appear those four times in my life.

I am a-

"Remy!"

Amber eyes blinked twice and a head of mussed brown hair lifted itself from the small nest it had made within the boy's arms.

"Here you are, finally, I've been searching everywhere for you!"

The boy walked across the room, nudged the boy slightly over so he could sprawl on the bed next to him. His grey eyes sparkling mischievously as he leaned on his side and propped his head up with his hand.

"You do realize you were supposed to meet us about fifteen minutes ago?"

The original occupant of the bed gave him a sleepy, half-confused look.

"I took a nap."

A grin suddenly appeared on the black-haired boy's face.

"So I see."

Eyes narrowed into a half-hearted glare and with surprising speed the boy snatched a pillow from behind him and slammed it into the others face.

"Shut up, Snuffles."

The response was a little muffled because of the pillow but clear enough to make a smile twitch on the brown haired boy's face.

"Don't call mee thattt!"

Ah, screw it, some secrets are better kept and besides as long as I have Sirius it will never be a serious problem... pun intended.


End file.
